This invention is directed to elastic composite materials including elastomeric adhesive film reinforced with elastic strands which significantly improves tension decay and adhesion properties of the material.
Personal care garments often include elasticized portions to create a gasket-like fit around certain openings, such as waist openings and leg openings. Laminates made from conventional elastic strands and elastic attachment adhesive are often used to create such elasticized portions. However, such laminates can be rough and uncomfortable. Furthermore, such laminates may cause red-marking on a wearer's skin if the fit is too tight and may result in leakage from the garment if the fit is too loose.
Multifunctional adhesive, such as elastic adhesives are currently recognized as suitable and desirable for use in the manufacture of personal care articles. More particularly, elastic adhesives can be used to bond facing materials, such as spunbond, to one another while simultaneously elasticizing the resulting laminate. The resulting laminate can be used to form an elastomeric portion of an absorbent article, such as a region surrounding a waist opening and/or a leg opening.
Current elastic adhesives, when used in combination with spunbond layers to form spunbond laminates, display noticeable tension decay and relatively poor adhesion properties.
There is a need or desire for an elastomeric laminate that can be used to create elasticized portions of a personal care garment, wherein the laminate does not display high tension decay or delamination. There is a further need or desire for an elastomeric laminate that possesses a soft feel and comfortable fit, while providing adjustable tension to minimize leakage.